The Pirate Queen

by Candace Osmond

  Our faces both turned solemn, weighed down by the words he spoke. Our home. Our family. They were all gone. I pulled away and stepped back.

  “What happened after I was gone?”

  Finn’s massive frame walked past me and stopped at the edge of the boardwalk, crouching down to take a seat and swing his long legs over the side, dangling over the calm evening water. I followed and sidled up next to him.

  “We were all shocked by what happened, when ye,” he waved his hand in the air in front of us, “did whatever it is ye did.”

  I hung my head, staring at my lap. “It was an accident. I was sent–” I stopped myself, but realized there could be no more secrets between us. Finn was my friend, my family. I could trust him with my life. “I was sent back to the future.”

  The Scotsman’s eyes bulged before he let out a sigh and looked out to the calm water. “I knew there was something off about ye.” Silence hung in the air, but he soon filled it with a raspy laugh. “It’s what saved us, though, ye know?”

  I perked up and looked at his face. “What do you mean?”

  “Yer little magic show,” he replied. “It stunned The Cobhams long enough for us to disarm them. I grabbed little Charlie and high tailed it out of there. I knew Gus and Henry could handle themselves.”

  I shifted in my spot and grabbed Finn’s arm. “Wait, are you telling me Charlie’s alive?”

  “Aye,” he confirmed, but then his face dropped. “Barely.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Maria cut through his neck, but not as deep as it seemed. I carried him out of there and into the village for help. I could hear him breathin’. Hardly. But alive. I got someone to help me clean and sew him up. We’ve been bunkered down with him, hidin’ in the barn of an old friend. But he’s,” Finn appeared distraught at the thought of Charlie, “Sick.”

  “Sick?” I shook my head. “What, you mean he’s not healing?”

  Finn shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know. He was doin’ fine one day, and then the next he caught a fever, sweatin’ all over the place. His wounds turned purple and are festerin’. He hasn’t woken up for three days now.”

  My stomach clenched at the thought. I knew what was wrong. He had an infection. No amount of cleaning and disinfecting would do it at that point. Only one thing could help him. “How far away are you guys?”

  “About five hours walkin’, give or take.” He examined my face curiously. “Why?”

  “I have something that can save him,” I replied. “And I have a place where you can hide that’s better than a barn. He needs to be in a cleaner environment where I can properly tend to his wounds and monitor the fever.”

  “Aye,” he spoke, “I’ll see what I can do about gettin’ a wagon and a horse.”

  “And you shouldn’t be trekking back to Cupers Over in the dead of night. Stay with me and we can head out tomorrow morning, together.” Although I worried about Charlie’s life, I was ecstatic at the thought of being reunited with Henry. I beamed. He was alive. There was no way I’d wait around The Slippery Cod all day while Finn went to fetch them. “I’m sure Gus and Henry can live without you for one night.”

  The Scotsman’s brow furrowed, and his shoulders hung low. “Oh, Lassie–”

  I didn’t like his sudden tone. “What?”

  “Henry isn’t… he’s nae with us.”

  I jumped to my feet and backed away, refusing to believe it. “What are you talking about? You said I distracted The Cobhams so you guys could disarm them.”

  Finn stood to meet me, arms outstretched to try and calm me. “Now, Dianna–”

  “You said Gus and Henry could handle themselves.” My hands balled into tight fists, the fingernails nearly piercing the flesh of my palms.

  “I did,” he replied. “I thought they could. But when they didnae turn up, I went back to the spot in the forest. Gus was badly beaten and tied up like a bloody hog. The captain was…”

  “What? Was what?” I cried, preparing for the worst.

  “Gone,” Finn finally said. “They took him. They killed the rest of the crew and set blaze to The Devil’s Heart. Now, whether the captain was thrown aboard with it, or if they took him to The Burning Ghost,” he shrugged in defeat, “We dinnae ken.”

  My mouth gaped as I fought back the tears and searched for words. Maria wouldn’t do that. Not to her precious pet. No, as much as it killed me to admit it, there was some dark and twisted part of her that cared for Henry. I could see that in her soulless eyes that night. She would have kept him, took him back.

  I reached up and vigorously wiped the skin under my tired eyes. “No,” I said sternly. “Henry is alive. And we’re going to find him.”

  ***

  We snuck back to town and I entered the front of The Slippery Cod while Finn waited out back, hidden in the shadows. The tavern was alive with half-drunk locals and visiting merchants, clanking their mugs of ale and singing jaunty tunes as someone played the fiddle. I made a b-line for the back kitchen, knowing I’d likely find Lottie there. I was right. She tended to the supper dishes over a giant metal tub.

  “Hi,” she greeted with curiosity, looking me up and down with a half-grin, “How did the secret meeting go?”

  I smiled and walked over to her side, lowering my voice to a quiet whisper. “Lottie, I need to know that I can trust you.”

  She took her hands out of the soapy tub and wiped them on her apron, before tucking a lock of unruly blonde hair behind her ear, her face all serious.

  “Well that depends,” she replied. “Are you asking if I’m a trustworthy person? Or are you asking me to do something immoral?”

  “I would never ask anyone to do something I wouldn’t do myself,” I assured her, making a mental note of how she didn’t seem to like her character being challenged.

  She smiled proudly. “Then, yes, you can trust me.” The woman turned and grabbed a couple of fresh buns from the counter and handed one to me before lobbing off a giant bite of her own. “What’s the matter? What happened down there? Did you find your captain?”

  “Yes and no,” I replied vaguely. “It was a friend who’d left the letter. A friend who I thought had died.” I took a bite of my bun and spoke with half a mouth. “I need to hide him for tonight. And then tomorrow I’m heading to Cupers Cove to fetch two more of my friends. One of them is a very ill boy. I’ll need to hide them here until he recovers. Is that something I can trust you to help me with?”

  Lottie didn’t respond, only continued to eat her bun and cast curious glances at me from the side. Finally, she spoke. “Are these men dangerous?”

  “No, I swear,” I quickly blurted out. “They’re privateers, one is no more than fifteen years old. He’s like a little brother to me. They’re good men, I promise you. And they won’t be causing any trouble.” When she still didn’t produce a solid response, I added, “I can pay you for two extra rooms.”

  She chewed her lip in thought, but then shrugged it off. “Just pay me for one, it’s all I have available, anyway. But I can set up a cot in one of the rooms if you need.”

  My face lit up with joy and I grabbed the woman, bringing her colliding with my body in a clumsy embrace. “Thank you!”

  She pushed me away, but the corner of her mouth turned up. “Did you say you had to hide your friend here tonight?”

  “Oh, shoot, yes,” I replied, remembering that Finn still waited outside. “He’s out back. Is there another exit? I don’t want to bring him in through the front and risk him being seen.”

  She turned and motioned for me to follow. “Can I ask who it is that you’re all hiding from?” I watched as she moved some small wooden crates away from a partially hidden door and heaved on the large metal latch that crossed the center.

  “Maria and Eric Cobham,” I replied. She came to a halt and stared at me with intensity. I couldn’t tell if she was angry or surprised, but her eyes narrowed, and her cheeks flushed red. I quickly added, “But I promise, they won’t be
coming anywhere near the tavern. If we’re careful about hiding my friends, they’ll never know we’re even here.”

  Lottie didn’t reply but her face settled into a stone-cold expression. Did people really fear The Cobhams that much? Or was there something Lottie was hiding from me? She heaved on the door again and it opened with a loud, rusty creak. I peered my head out in search of Finn, but it was pitch black, I couldn’t see past where the light escaped from the tavern door. Suddenly, a figure jumped in the doorway from the side and tipped over a small stack of the wooden crates.

  “Christ, Lassie,” he roared, “I’ve been freezin’ me arse off out there.” Finn let out an exaggerated shudder and looked from me to Lottie with an amused grin.

  “This is your friend?” Lottie asked, eyes wide. “Jesus, good luck keeping him hidden.”

  I let out a tired sigh. “This is Lottie,” I told him. “She’s been extremely kind to me and is going to help us stay under the radar while Charlie heals. So, it’s a good idea to behave while you’re here, understand?” My eyes darted back and forth between the two. “And Lottie, this is Finn.”

  She nodded. “Clearly not the sick child, then.”

  He grabbed her hand and bent down to place a kiss on the back of it. “Milady, we are forever in yer debt.”

  I rolled my eyes but couldn’t help laughing. Even in times of crisis, Finn was a shining light. Nothing could keep him down. Lottie didn’t seem too pleased by his humor, though. She yanked her hand away, pursed her lips, and turned toward the stairs.

  “Follow me.”

  ***

  Lottie showed Finn to his room and then left abruptly. Something about him made her uneasy, more than her usual everyday unease. Maybe it was his size, or perhaps she had something against Scots. I made a mental note to talk to her later when I had the chance.

  “So, tell me more about this time travel bit,” Finn told me as we sat on my bed. I grabbed a few more buns from the kitchen and two bowls of leftover stew. It was cold, but we happily spooned it into our mouths in the quiet echo of my room.

  “I don’t know how much would make sense to you,” I replied honestly. “I mean, I had no idea about any of it until it happened. I still know hardly anything. I’ve managed to travel back and forth by pure luck, really.”

  “Nay, I don’t believe that.” He grabbed another bun and effortlessly bit off an entire half in one bite. “I’ve never heard of regular people using magic like that. That stuff’s only for the fairies and the witches.”

  “Well, my mom was raised by Martha, the Celtic witch who was in the forest with us that night,” I told him. Finn’s eyes widened, and I watched as he mindlessly wiped his beard of stew with the palm of his hand. “I had no idea, not until I met her. I didn’t even know my mom was from the past.”

  He nodded. “Aye, the witch. She disappeared the moment ye did.”

  “Really?”

  “Aye, the coward.” He gave an exaggerated roll of his eyes “So, where in the past did yer mum come from? And where in the future are ye from, anyway?”

  “I was born in 1991, and when you guys scooped me out of the water that day, I’d just come from the year 2018. My mom was–” I realized then, I had no actual idea of where my mom came from. I assumed it was 1707, but she could have come from anywhere in the past. Martha claimed to have raised her, but how long did Celtic witches live? How old was Martha that night I met her? I shrugged. “Actually, I have no idea. She came from the past, that much I know. She washed ashore near my hometown and met my father. Fell in love and stayed there to raise me. But she… drowned when I was younger.”

  His face softened. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  I shrugged. “It was a long time ago. I’ve dealt with it.”

  “I knew there was something strange about ye,” he added. “That’s why I tried to keep ye around. Part of me couldn’t bear to see the captain throw ye overboard.”

  I smiled. “And here we are.”

  Finn held up his half-eaten bun and I tapped mine to it in a toast. “Aye, here we are.” We finished off our food and I set the empty dishes on the tray. “Did Henry know?”

  My chest clenched around my heart at the sound of his name. “Yes, he did. Not at first, but I eventually told him. He was going to come to the future with me.” My hand rubbed across my stomach, mentally checking on the baby growing inside. My eyes watered over, lips quivering as I fought to keep the tears at bay.

  Finn stood and grabbed hold of me, crushing my body to his large frame in a rough and familiar embrace. I took comfort in his friendship. The simple nearness of him was enough to calm me. Finn was like the older brother I never had.

  “We’ll find him, Dianna. I swear to it.”

  “I know,” I choked out. We lingered in his friendly clasp before I pulled away to wipe the few tears that managed to escape from my eyes. “Where do we start? Do you know where The Cobhams are?”

  “Nay,” he replied and shook his head. ”Everything’s been quiet on land and sea since that night. Either they’re hidin’ out, planning their next attack, or Maria’s havin’ a time with our captain.”

  My teeth ground against each other. When we found The Cobham’s, I’d kill Maria myself if she hurt a hair on Henry’s head. “If things have been quiet, then that probably means they’re at sea. Word would travel pretty fast if the crew of The Burning Ghost was staying at a tavern somewhere.”

  I paced the floor, contemplating our first move after Charlie got better. Then I remembered all the stuff I’d read about Maria during my search for a way back. Books and documents, drawings, so many things Mom had collected on them. I knew all the places Maria liked to hide away, I’d read about the different properties she secretly owned across the province. A smile spread wide across my face. I had everything I needed to find her.

  “We set sail. I know a few places we can look.”

  Finn’s chest heaved as he let out a long sigh. “Aye, but it’s nae that simple, Lassie. We’d need supplies, food, weapons, and money to buy it all.” He sat down on the bed. “And better yet, we’d need a ship, for Christ’s sake.”

  I was about to open my mouth to speak when the door, which hadn’t been fully closed, opened with a creek and Lottie popped her head in. “Sorry,” she said, “I was just comin’ to fetch your dishes.”

  “Oh, sure,” I grabbed the tray from the dressing table and handed it to her. “Thanks, Lottie.”

  “I also overheard you sayin’ you need a ship,” she added with reluctance in her tone.

  I raised my eyebrows in surprise. “Uh, yeah, we do. Do you know someone who’d take us aboard theirs? We could pay them.”

  “No,” she replied and folded her arms across her stomach. “But I do know of one you can have.”

  Chapter Nine

  Morning couldn’t come fast enough. All night, I’d laid in bed wide awake, thinking about how Lottie could possibly get us a ship. She wouldn’t tell us anything the night before, and I didn’t want to push. I trusted my friend, and I was thankful for her help. She even offered to loan us her uncle’s horse and wagon to go fetch Charlie, to which I was eternally grateful for. Not having to walk through the backwoods of Eastern Newfoundland for five hours was a major sigh of relief.

  I loaded up my large satchel and headed next door to Finn’s room before we both slipped downstairs and out the back door. Lottie waited there with the horse and wagon, a heap of blankets in her arms.

  “Here,” she said, “Use these to hide the giant leprechaun in the back.”

  “Hey,” Finn protested, “I’m a Scot, ye blonde wench.”

  She rolled her eyes and turned to me. “Just head straight down the main road until you’re out of the limits of the village. Stay true to the wider path, you’ll make two turns near the end but always choose the wider road. You’ll get there.”

  “Thanks,” I told her with sincerity. “If there are no problems, I should be back this evening with the three of them. I’ll come here,
to the back. So, keep an eye out, okay?” She nodded. “And Charlie will need as many clean linens as you can give me. And hot water. Lots and lots of hot water.”

  “Got it,” she replied and squeezed my shoulder. We exchanged a quick nod and I took the blankets from her grasp. Finn hopped in the back and lay down while Lottie helped me spread the linens over him.

  “This is humiliatin’,” he muttered.

  “Better than getting seen,” I told him. “You’re just too recognizable.”

  He let out a feisty harrumph and Lottie chuckled to herself as she headed back inside. “Do ye even know how to drive a wagon? I s’pose ye all ride flying horses where ye come from.”

  “Geez, I’m from the future, not a different planet,” I told him. “But, no, I’ve never driven a horse-drawn wagon, but I’ll figure it out.” I nestled a small basket of snacks down next to him and covered his head, attaching the blanket to the back of my seat for security before hopping aboard and grabbing the reins.

  We traveled along the wide dirt road towards Cupers Cove, until the constant vibrations of the wooden wheels passing over the gravel became a soothing frequency coursing through my body. Surprisingly, it was in better shape than most Newfoundland roads from my own time, probably from the absence of big trucks and off-road vehicles. The small, brown horse was calm and steady, and I quickly adapted to how the animal reacted to the reins.

  Finn talked to me from under the blanket, updating me on more details of what happened after I left. But our conversation quickly turned to placate his curiosity as he began asking a stream of questions about the future. What’s it like, what do we eat, where do I live, what do I do? It never ended and I couldn’t help but laugh at some of his reactions. He was shocked to learn about ferries and cars and the population of the Earth. I told him Newfoundland eventually becomes part of Canada, breaking away from the rule of the Queen.